Hold Me Too Tight
by knittingchampionofnarnia
Summary: Edward's sister, Alice comes home for winter break earlier than planned turning life for the Cullens upside down. Then she announces her sudden desire to leave her prestigious dance academy. J/A. E/B. Em/R. Dur.
1. Prologue: You've Kept Me Waiting

A/M: Yay

**A/M: Yay! Alice/Jasper! I had a dog named Jasper once…he died though…I'll never forgive my parents for that…they didn't let me say goodbye… -cough- well…erm…that's not the point! I had this idea the other day and I want to see how it will play out. Oh and this chapter is named after the song My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada from Avenue Q because I thought it was funny.**

**Disclaimer: Uhm, yah…I don't own anyone or anything…c'ept the plot of course…**

Prologue

You've Kept Me Waiting

**Edward Cullen**

I have found solace in many places, in front of the piano, my bedroom, my car, my father's office at the hospital, a meadow I found once while hiking alone, one of these many places is not school.

I parked my Volvo and ran to the overhang by the cafeteria. Though I constantly put on a good face I detested Forks with a passion. I listened for my name to be called, but I knew I'd hear that second after the truck.

I listened for a few minutes but no truck could be heard, then I heard her shout through the rain. "Edward!"

Bella, one of my closest and dearest friends, slammed the door of Jasper's car and pulled her hood tighter if possible makin only a small portion of her face visible, then she waddled over to where I stood. She knew only too well how clumsy she was so she didn't try to run, but Jasper quickly caught up to her and then passed her.

"No truck?" I asked undoing the strings of her hood so she could put it down.

"I think it's actually dead this time." Bella said, she heaved a huge sigh and pretended to cry. "I don't understand, why is it doing this to me? I love it with all my might, but it's just – _dying_." I enveloped her in my arms in a joking manner, rocking her back and forth a little too hard to be serious. "Will you look at it, Edward?" she begged.

"I suppose I'll have to, if we're trying to prevent a car funeral." She gasped at the idea and stepped back pointing her finger at my nose, making me go cross-eyed.

"Don't you ever joke about my trucks life like that again!" she said in a reasonably scary voice.

I chuckled, knowing only too well that she was – on some level – joking. "I'll look at it tomorrow, you're still staying over tonight, right?" Bella nodded and Edward looked at Jasper for the first time, he nodded in response to the unspoken question.

"Charlie knows you guys won't pull anything with me." Bella explained.

This is why I loved Charlie Swan, he constantly let his 17 year-old daughter hang out with two guys her age, sometimes without parental supervision.

I knew I would never _actually_ make a pass or pull anything with Bella, but every day that she walked, tripped, stalked, dragged, ran, heck even waddled up to me I wished that I could then take her face in my hands and kiss her while laughing at her oddity. I also knew that I could never do this because I was dead set on the idea that Bella Swan held no feelings for me other than best friend.

Jasper looked at his watch and began walking to his first class, Spanish.

I didn't take a language because I apparently had enough language experience at home, which is true. My father speaks Latin, Spanish and French and my mother speaks German and Italian. I know quite a lot from them. I know how to say that I'm lost, I can ask where the restrooms are in those languages, plus Sign. So, because I don't take a language I have a period free.

Bella shrugged and followed Jasper. I walked to my Calculus class. I had somehow ended up on the more advanced side of school so I didn't take a language and I was in Senior math.

After school ended we met under the overhang again, normally that is, Jasper was running late for some reason unknown to us, we kept lookout until Bella said, "There!" Poor blighter, he was being cornered by Jessica Stanley, quite literally, backed into a corner with Jessica hovering over him. We went over to rescue him from such a terrible fate.

"I'd _really_ appreciate some help on this essay, and frankly Jasper, you're the only one who can help me. I have _horrible_ grammar." Jasper shook his head and l pulled on his arm.

"I'm sorry, Jessica. But Jasper has already agreed to help me and I'll need all the help I can get." Jessica nodded slowly and stepped back a few feet and muttered something incoherent to Bella and Jasper but I heard it.

"Stupid fags." She had said, I growled and took a step but both Bella and Jasper had my arms before I could even think of a way to approach and strike.

"Edward," Bella said, her voice warning. "She's not worth it." I pulled against their grip but it held firm then I sighed and relaxed, but they did not release me.

Once in the car, Jasper started talking a mile a minute. "I owe you one, Edward! She just cornered me after class and I don't like her enough to talk to her so I was just listening to her hit on me and I was praying you guys would find me and if I _ever_ believed in God, it was now!"

Jasper wasn't a snob, he just didn't think it was reasonable to have to talk to people he didn't care about so he tried not to waste his breath. He played the mute, emo boy at school but was the chatterbox whenever he had Bella and I alone. He'd give pleasantries if you were nice, he'd follow a conversation, but he'd never start one.

I chuckled lightly and said, "It's _okay_, Jasper."

"And I'm sorry that Jessica called you gay, we all know your not even though you've never had a girlfriend. We believe that you're searching for your soul mate! We trust you one-hundred-percent on that. She still shouldn't have said it though, and I think she was also referring to me which is an insult but whatever…" As Jasper continued to rant on about Jessica Stanley thinking we were gay sex buddies I thought about the fact that winter break had just started. I sighed hoping that it wouldn't mean a visit from Alaska, Italy, or – worse yet – France.

I pulled up to the house, it's a huge thing but wonderfully charming with too many rooms – making it the rendez-vous point for family. The rain had let up and the trees created a canopy over us keeping us a little dry till we made it to the porch. I pulled out a key and went to unlock the door to find that it was already unlocked. I turned with wide eyes to my friends and opened the door slowly ushering them behind me. As soon as I walked through the door I was ambushed.

"EDWARD!" As the person who had called my name ambushed me and gave me a hug that crushed my insides I could think of only a few people this was, Bella (but I knew it wasn't her); Tanya, Kate, or Irina (but they weren't due to arrive until Christmas Eve) or – and as I looked up my suspicions were confirmed.

"Alice?" I asked in disbelief.

"Who else?" She asked incredulously, letting go and stepping back.

"I thought your flight came in on Christmas Eve along with Tanya, Kate and Irina." How could she just barge in like this? Well, I suppose it was her home and she was just as welcome to barge in as I was.

"Yah," she trailed off and started excitedly again. "But surprising you is far more fun!" she giggled.

"What did you do to your hair?" I gaped suddenly staring at her cropped, pixie-like locks.

She rolled her eyes, "I cut it, duh!"

"Uh, Edward?" I was suddenly acutely aware that my friends were standing in the doorway. "Should I call my dad?" Bella asked.

"No," I assured her as I glared at Alice. "Police Chief Swan will _not _be necessary." Jasper and Bella still looked wary and anxious, I sighed. "Alice, these are my best friends, Bella and Jasper. Bells, Jasper, this is Alice."

Alice waited for me to continue, when she realized I wouldn't she said, "I'm Edward's sister," Bella's jaw dropped and Jasper was in disbelief. "Twin actually." She corrected herself. Then she walked over to Bella and threw her arms around her neck. "We are going to be such good friends, Bella." Bella just stared at my sister, shell-shocked. Then Alice moved to Jasper. "You've kept me waiting a long time." She said cryptically.

Jasper seemed to understand immediately and bowed his head slightly, "Sorry ma'am." He apologized.

**A/M: Okay, short chapter I know, but it's the prologue so get over it please!**

**This is my first story on here for a while so I'm going to try to keep up with it as much as possible. I know where I'm going so just let me get the first chapter up and then we'll chat about my lack of plot, k?**

**And remember: Reviews are friends, flames are food.**


	2. Chapter 1: Nothing New, Nothing New

A/M: Woah…Hey…Sup

**A/M: Woah…Hey…Sup?**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**A/M: Okay true stuff:**

**La Belle et La Bête is the French version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The songs mentioned are: C'est** **la fête is Be Our Guest and Histoire éternelle is the song Beauty and the Beast and Bonjour Belle is the opening song known as Belle. And it is true that in different languages you can get two different stories. I watch a few movies in French…and things get changed around a bit, the plot stays the same but you notice it a lot with music. On My Own from Les Mis sounds 10x better in French as Mon Histoire, everything is so more descriptive and delicate in a different language. (Plus the guys always sound hotter in French – true fact!)**

Chapter One

Nothing New, Nothing New

**Alice Cullen**

I had been so excited on the plane, listening to my English/American Pop Music and watching my favorite Disney movie in English, La Belle et La Bête was originally in English, but I changed the options so it would speak in English and give me French subtitles. I hadn't remembered C'est la fête in English or Histoire éternelle in English and I couldn't remember ever hearing the English version of Bonjour Belle. Everything moved differently in the different languages, in English there was a more sarcasm, more wit. In French the story was a little better, the lyrics a little more meaningful.

I _had_ been excited.

But when I saw my brother standing there with a confusing look of outrage and sadness I wished I hadn't exchanged my ticket. In fact, I wished that I hadn't purchased a ticket at all.

Then, everything changed when I saw _him_. Since Edward and I were 11 I had seen this young man in my dreams, I had seen this exact scene and suddenly it all fell together. I knew what I was going to say and how he would inevitably react. I walked to him and said, "You've kept me waiting a long time."

He ducked his head and I was sure that this was him, he had curly blonde hair and blue-green eyes but his response was the final thing that sold me, "I'm sorry, ma'am." He apologized.

I had already scared Edward's girlfriend, Bella I think her name was, by giving her an unexpected hug and the promise that we'd be best friends as seen in my dreams as well and now the blonde boy named – I think – Jasper.

"Alice, can I talk to you for a moment?" Edward asked me, I shrugged and nodded. He pulled me into the living room. Then he turned to confront me, his hand on my shoulder, looking down on me like I was a child. "Alice," he asked. "What the _hell_ are you doing here?"

"I _am_ still part of this family, right? You didn't disown me or something?" Edward looked around angrily at this response.

"We've got lives, Alice. We're not ready for you now, we'll be ready on Christmas Eve." Was his answer.

"Edward!" I scolded. "I am not some _guest_! I am your _sister_! I don't care if you're _ready_! I _live_ here!" I had no idea why I was so mad. I suppose I had just assumed I could dance through the door and everything would be just fine, it was a silly thing to assume.

"You _live_ here?" He repeated my words acidly. "Alice, the last time you stepped through that door was six months ago and a week later you stepped back out! You didn't even _want_ to come home for Christmas, mom had to _beg_ you!"

I remembered that conversation, it wasn't a happy one, I had been planning to go to Pauline and Mathilde's for Christmas their mother had invited me year after year but I always had to come home for _that_ holiday. So I had refused the plane ticket six times until my mom _called_ me all the way from America begging me to come home for break. I hadn't known that Edward had heard about it.

I felt terrible looking back on that horrid memory, but I tried to play it off smoothly and bubbly. "Well…" I said. "I'm here now! Please don't be mad at me, Edward!" I pouted my lips knowing all too well it wouldn't work. It never worked.

"That never works, Alice." He said.

I grumbled, "It was worth a shot." And he smiled. "Oh! I got you to smile!"

The front door clicked open.

"Hello, Jasper." My mother's voice asked pleasantly – oh my mother's voice, how I had missed it so when the nights were too black. Suddenly her voiced turned to hysteria. "What's wrong with Bella? Where's Edward? Did they fight? What's wrong?"

"No, Esme," Jasper said, calming her. "Bella and Edward didn't fight. Edward's in the living room with –"

"Alice?" My mother's voice finished his sentence and I turned away from Edward to face her. She looked so different from when I last saw her, her eyes were tired and sad. Her hair was less put together – more normal than on the holidays, I winced as the bag of groceries fell from her arms.

How much _had_ I missed? Was I so not a part of their lives that this everyday version of my mother was so alien-like to me? I noticed that Edward's hair was far less tamed and his clothes less smart. _Was_ I more a guest than a daughter to them? Did they think holiday and automatically think: Tanya, Kate, Irina, and Alice?

"Mom!" I exclaimed back, her eyes were disbelieving but they believed it when I threw myself around her in a hug, her arms hesitated at her sides but they eventually enveloped me as well, I made sure they did, I hugged her until they did.

"Alice, honey," she said once I pulled away, she cupped my face with her hand, looking at me in worry. "Why are you here so soon?" She wiped a finger at my face and I realized I was crying.

"I'd rather not have to tell the story about a hundred times, can we wait for dad?" I asked, she seemed to agree to that then turned to Jasper and Bella.

"Have you been properly introduced to Alice?" she asked. Bella was still in a state of shock but gathered enough sense to be able to nod. Jasper did the same. "Jasper you know I do not favor it when you don't speak to me." She scolded.

He slumped but spoke this time, "Yes, Esme. Alice introduced herself."

My mom nodded like appraisingly and turned to Edward standing in the huge doorway glaring daggers at me. "Edward," She said staring at him, he didn't remove his gaze from me. "Would you please help me with these groceries, the bag seems to have fallen apart." He nodded once and did as she asked, his eyes never leaving mine.

When he went into the kitchen I pondered how I would approach my father, I decided a hug attack would be just fine. I didn't bother to look for it in my future I just knew it would all work out. I looked around to see that the hall had abandoned itself. I skipped into the kitchen to see where everyone had run off to. The phone rang as I entered and, unthinkingly, I pulled it off the wall and spoke into it, "Hello?"

"Hi hun, could you put Bella on?" My dad thought I was my mother, did we really sound the same, or was he too distracted? I handed the phone to the girl who would eventually be my best friend then I pressed speakerphone.

"Hello?" Bella asked, confused.

"Hey, Bella, I just wanted to warn you to stay in the kitchen until I can change." This was the oddest request I had ever heard. "On my way out of the hospital a person needed to be stitched up right there and I was the only free doctor so I just stitched her up but I've got blood _all_ over my clothes."

Esme dropped something she was putting in the fridge, "You ruined that _brand_ new shirt _already_?" She asked in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, dear!" He apologized profusely. "So, Bella," he said redirecting the conversation. "Just stay in the kitchen till I'm changed."

"Okay, thanks for the warning Carlisle!" Bella said, thanking him politely.

"See you all soon!" He said to everyone and the phone disconnected, I took the phone from Bella and put it back on the wall, it began to look like my hug-attack-Carlisle plan was not going to work after all. I shrugged to myself slightly and sat at the island counter/bar humming C'est la fête under my breath.

"So you like the Disney classics?" Bella asked me trying to make conversation while Jasper just listened and handed my mom and Edward things to put away.

I laughed lightly, "No, I just watched La Belle et La Bête on the plane ride, but I watched it in English so I've got C'est la fête in my head." Bella stared at me, confused. "You know that song with the tap-dancing dishes, I don't remember what it is in English."

"Oh, Be Our Guest!" She exclaimed knowingly, I nodded unsurely. "Beauty and the Beast is my third favorite Disney Princess Movie!" She was in less shock now, letting conversation roll nicely. "My first is Sleeping Beauty and then The Little Mermaid."

I wracked my brain for a similar translation in my head, something – anything so that I could relate. "I don't know them if their not in French, could you hum a song or something?" I asked.

"Don't ask Bella to do anything musical related, she's no good!" Edward teased, passing by her with soda to go to the basement, she hit him while he was passing.

"The Little Mermaid," Jasper said suddenly and hummed Sous l'océan.

"Oh yes!" I exclaimed. "I love that one, in French it's La petite sirène."

"Sleeping Beauty," Jasper added and hummed Je t'ai vu au beau milieu d'un rêve, I smiled and sang along in French to his humming without even realizing it.

I stopped singing at Le Prince Philippe's entrance and Jasper blushed, we heard a car drive up and my mom left the kitchen to help my father, she had been listening to me singing, I realized this and blushed then I realized that Bella had heard it too and I blushed more, I knew that when Edward complimented my singing in a teasing manner from the basement that I went as red as I could go without burning my face off.

I heard my mother's laughter get closer before I saw her enter with my dad right behind her. "DADDY!" I shrieked and hug attacked him. He – like everyone else – didn't know how to react at first but in the end his arms wrapped themselves tightly around me.

"Alice!" He breathed. "Alice, honey, it's so good to see you!" He stepped back and stood me at arms length looking me over for any tattoos or piercing. "Your ears have too many holes." He commented. I felt my ears and the numerous rings on them. "And you chopped off all your hair." He added reaching a hand to my perfectly messy hair. "And you are wearing the most _bizarre _clothing I've ever seen." I let my jaw drop on this. My clothes were _not_ 'bizarre'.

"I take offense to that, Daddy!" I said grumpily and frowned, he chuckled and mussed up my hair, I smiled and hugged him again.

"So, not that I don't love it, why are you home early?" He asked me finally. I skipped into the living room and everyone hesitantly – or incredulously, I couldn't really tell – followed.

"Mom, Daddy, Edward," I announced then looked to Bella and Jasper. "My new friends who know nothing about me," I acknowledged them. "I can't handle the current intense dance academy that I currently attend and I'm sure word of my expulsion will reach the house by end of break."

"What?" Daddy said jumping up. "You've been _expelled_?"

"No, Daddy!" I giggled. "It's one of those 'You can't fire me, I quit' scenarios. I knew they were going to expel me so I'm not going back."

"You knew or you _knew_?" Edward asked bitterly, I flashed him a glare. Does he really still resent me for that? If anything he should resent me for the fact that I hate home but he's only made it hell-like for me. It's not he ever tried to smooth out the large bubbles in our relationship.

"I knew." I snapped. Then, out of nowhere, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and walked out of the room without thinking, I could hear my parents ask Jasper and Bella to leave the family for a few moments. They obliged and followed me. "Allô, oui?" _Hello for the telephone._ I asked.

"Alice?" A voice asked in a strong French accent. "Alice! C'est moi, Rosalie!" _Alice! It's me, Rosalie._

"Rosalie! Salut, comment ça va?" _Rosalie! Hi, how are you?_

"Bien, bien, merci." _Good, good, thank you._ "Conner veut parler avec toi, c'est d'accord?" _Conner wants to talk to you, it's okay?_

"Oui, je veux parler avec Conner s'il tê plait" _Yes, I want to talk to Conner please._

"Alice?" Another voice asked, his was more deep. It was Conner, how could I explain that I wouldn't be able to look at him again, hold him, kiss him?

"Oui," I said weakly. "C'est moi." _Yes, it's me._

"Est-ce que c'est vrai?" _Is it true?_ "Vas-tu habiter aux des États-Unis?" _Are you going to live in the United States?_

"Oui," I said, still unbearably weak, I didn't like having this lack of power. "C'est vrai." _Yes, it's true._

"Non." He said. "Non, Alice. Tu ne peux pas." _No. No, Alice. You can't._

"Oui, je suis desoler, Conner." _Yes, I'm sorry, Conner._

"Mais, Alice." I knew what he was going to say, he would say anything to get me to stay and now I'd have to face these words I never wanted to hear from his mouth. "Je t'aime." _But, Alice. I love you._

I struggled to get the next words out. "Je ne t'aime pas, Conner. Je suis desoler. J'ai besoin d'aller." _I don't love you, Conner. I'm sorry. I have to go._

I hung up before he could say anything else. I felt like breaking down and crying right there, I wanted to die. I wanted to hurt myself for hurting him. He didn't deserve this, but he didn't deserve to have me if I was going to be so far away. I knew he loved me and that he knew that I loved someone else – someone that, to his knowledge, I didn't know yet.

I knew one of the many things I could do, I had seen Emilie do it all the time when she was 'in danger of failing'. I almost ran upstairs to what I knew to be my room. It wouldn't take long and I _had_ eaten recently.

Almost like he could tell what I was thinking, Jasper moved across the room in four blithe steps and searched my face disapprovingly then shook his head once then he retreated back to Bella who was still wary of me. Most likely the cause for this reaction to little old me was because of Edward's reaction to me.

Maybe she was jealous of me.

_No!_ I thought angrily, I couldn't start thinking like Rosalie. That'd only make me feel worse and then no one – not even Jasper – could stop me, not with looks, with strength or with love. I'd be able to find something wrong with myself every time I looked in the mirror.

As if I didn't have enough to worry about.

Then my dad appeared in the doorway of the living room. "I suppose you've already put your stuff away, Alice?"

"Hours ago." I confirmed. The corners of his mouth pulled up slightly and I appraised myself silently.

"We need to discuss this further, perhaps you'd like to get to know Bella better?" He asked, I nodded fervently. "Jasper, Esme said your mother called wanting to speak with you, perhaps you should call her back now?" He nodded and disappeared into the kitchen pulling out a little black cell phone as he went. When he was out of sight I tried to walk – but ended up dancing – to Bella and pulled her gracefully up the stairs, she tripped a few times with my fluidness but I didn't mind. I pulled her into my room and she stared at me.

"Edward never told us he had a sister." She said, almost like an explanation for her behavior, I nodded once.

"I know."

**A/M: Okay true stuff:**

**La Belle et La Bête is the French version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The songs mentioned are: C'est** **la fête is Be Our Guest and Histoire éternelle is the song Beauty and the Beast and Bonjour Belle is the opening song known as Belle. And it is true that in different languages you can get two different stories. I watch a few movies in French…and things get changed around a bit, the plot stays the same but you notice it a lot with music. On My Own from Les Mis sounds 10x better in French as Mon Histoire, everything is so more descriptive and delicate in a different language. (Plus the guys always sound hotter in French – true fact!)**

**A/M Part Dos!: SPOILER ALERTTT!! Renesmee? Seriously Stephenie? And what's up with Edward Jacob? I was like, don't go all Albus Severus on us now!**

**REVIEWERS:**

**Floridian Girl: Sorry, I didn't make that clear. Everyone in this fanfiction are humans.**

**You'reTheMoon: Thanks!**

**kaylee: haha maybe if you hadn't been anonymous you could have put me on alert so you could know when I update!**

**OKAY I'M GOING TO CAMP FOR SIX DAYS! I'LL TRY TO UPDATE WHEN I GET BACK, BUT I'M GOING TO HAVE MY BOOK TO BE EDITITNG TO GET INTO SOME SHAPE TO MAKE IT PRESENTABLE. SO, I'LL TRY TO GET SOME WORK DONE ON IT…**


	3. Chapter 2: It Rains and it Pours When

A/M: Hey there

**A/M: Hey there! I'm back and I now know how to sail. I think that's pretty cool then my mom got stung by a bigass bee so her hand swelled to like 3x its normal size so she tortured me by taking my computer away and making me watch stupid TV with her for two days...so I haven't had much access to my computerladora. So, on with the showeth.**

**Disclaimer: Yah…kinda glad I don't own stuff right now because I'm not really too happy with Breaking Dawn on some levels…**

Chapter Two

It Rains and it Pours When You're Out on Your Own

"It's raining." I pouted, my shoulders slumping dramatically. I had been ready to face the morning with a bright and cheery face, but I had been expecting the sunny, clear skies of Paris, France. Not the rainy, grey ones of Forks, Washington.

Bella laughed pulling her sweatshirt over her head. "Yah," She acknowledged. "It does that."

I growled stupidly and moved from the window, narrowly avoiding the sleeping figures of my brother and his friend – now mine as well. Bella followed me, but being her clumsy self – after I had learned she was rather clumsy – she managed to trip over Jasper and land on Edward. He snapped up sharply and looked around.

"We're not in Volterra…" He noted wisely, yet hardly coherent. "This is good." He nodded once groggily. Then, noticing me he announced. "Al, I had that dream, you know the one…" he trailed of sleepily.

I went to him and patted his head softly, "It's okay, we're in Washington, and you've got Esme and Carlisle and me…" I trailed off but added them at the end. "…and Jasper and Bella."

"Bells?" He asked, knowing the name even in his sleep deprived state, he reached one hand out, looking for her, she took his air-groping hand and stared at him.

"What dream?" she demanded.

I – being the wonderful sister that I am, or trying to be any way – pulled Bella off him and whispered in her ear, "I'll tell you later." She tried to shrug me off but I knew I was stronger and she proved it.

Jasper sat up then, and looked around confused, deciding whether or not to say something. He opened his mouth then closed it again, shook his head, laid back down, and fully zipped his sleeping bag around his head so he was locked in it.

I dragged Bella out of the living room, where we had all slept last night, into the kitchen where my mom was making pancakes. I love my mom.

"Good morning you two," She smiled at us while pouring some batter into the middle of a huge pan. "Did you sleep alright?"

"Indeed-i-o, mommy-o." I said pepily, now it was time for my mask. I allowed myself about ten minutes of sans-mask-time each day. I tended to use it in the morning while groggy and un-caffeinated. "Although I am not so fond of the fact that it is raining." I noted, still a little agitated about it. "Oh, and Edward had _the dream_ again." I made it sound ominous, which it is.

"He has it when you come home," My mom informed me, placing a cup of coffee in front of an only semi-conscious Bella and pouring the rest into a go-mug. Well _that_ was news to me! "But if you_ are_ in fact staying, I'm sure the dreams will cease eventually."

"Are you staying, Alice?" Bella asked me, that news seeming more important than Edward's nightmare. She took a sip of coffee, ready to hear my answer.

I was. Nobody knew it yet, but I was. Last night, Bella and Jasper had watched a few reruns of _That 70's Show_ in Edward's room while we had a family meeting. I told them then all the horrors of my elite dancing school in Paris, France. I told them how all my friends only spoke French and how I missed having a normal adolescence where I went to a normal high school.

Then I told them the _other_ part. I told them about the teachers and how crazy they were and the rules that I had always overlooked. If you got past a certain weight for one week, you were expelled. I told them about how my best friends were raging bulimics and anorexia victims.

Obviously, I was staying here.

"I don't know." I answered cryptically. I can't appear to know too much even though I do.

It rained for a long time and the boys slept even longer, the rain took on a pause that would last about two hours around 11, at noontime the boys finally made an appearance. Bella had been stranded because of her apparently unreliable truck that had given out, I would have offered her a ride but seeing as I drive on the left side of the road it would have been rather dangerous.

My mom had left shortly after give Bella her coffee and setting us up with some eggs and pancake batter, we had made some fried eggs but had left the batter, I'm still not fantastic with pancakes and Bella was too groggy to be trusted with a spatula. Or so she warned me.

When the boys awoke they ignored our presence in the kitchen where we had – for convenience – stayed and went about making pancakes.

"Morning Edward, morning Jasper." Bella greeted them, hardly looking up from my design book, I had brought it down to show my mom but Bella was now taking a look at some of my clothes. Jasper nodded and Edward grunted non-committally.

"Wow, you guys are a bundle of fun in the morning," I drawled sarcastically.

"Get the sleep I got last night and we'll see if you're still your chipper self." Edward snipped back. I shrugged and went back to the book with Bella, explaining things here and there that people had often not understood. I also had to translate the notes I had made.

"Nice clothes." Jasper said over our shoulders staring at the design currently on the page. He had a cup of coffee in his pale hands and his hair was all over the place in an un-styled way. "Pretty model." He also pointed out.

I smiled to myself thinking of Rosalie. "She's based off my best friend from school."

Edward, who had presently given up on pancakes and had moved on to a blueberry muffin looked at the paper with interest. "It looks like your sister a little, doesn't it, Jazz?"

Jasper frowned, at the nickname or at the picture I didn't know but repeated his first statement about the picture. "Nice clothes." Edward shrugged at him and continued to eat his muffin.

"Well." I declared standing up from the counter. "I'm going for a walk."

"Alice, I wouldn't do that, weather in Forks is pretty temperamental, you could get stuck in a lightning storm." Bella warned.

"S'happened before." Jasper said which I figured was his shortened way of saying _'It's true, it happened to us before.'_

"I say the rain will hold out another hour so, I'm going for a walk."

Then, Edward spoke up, "The weather in Forks might even make _you_ wrong." I turned sharply to glare at him.

"You wanna make a bet, Eddipuss?" I said, sickly sweet.

"No, Alli-poo." He said with the same tone.

So out for a walk I went.

While nothing was soaking wet everything was damp, every surface so it made it hard to take a walk, sit on a rock and ponder life. In the end I gave up and sit in the middle of the forest on the damp and slightly muddy dirt staring up at grey sky. Though the rain a ceased I knew the sky wouldn't blue for at least a month.

I took in the past few hours, talking with Bella, learning about Edward and Jasper. I had realized how much I had not been in his life and how much I wanted to be. Edward was my brother even though Esme and Carlisle weren't my parents, not biologically anyway. But after the – accident we had become theirs though a few simple documents. I loved them and I couldn't really remember our biological parents anyway but I suppose I must have loved them too.

The one thing that consistently bothered me about Edward was his bitterness and hatred toward my _power_.

I could – to some effect – see the future. Once decisions were made I could see the outcome of events but things got in the way sometimes.

Just as I was thinking about the _accident_ in Volterra, Italy the rain started again. I had lost track of the time and was now alone with a very short sightline in every direction with the torrential downpour that was suddenly upon me.

"Zut." I said in a small, frustrated voice.

I began walking in what I knew was the wrong way hoping that miraculously it would be the right way. I heard a branch snap behind me but I paid no attention. It was probably just some woodland critter trying to get out of the rain like me. That, or it was an evil lumberjack rapist who was going to live up to his name – rape me then chop of my head. Oooh that could be a good horror movie.

I hoped it was the woodland critter.

"Alice." A voice said, oh _zut alors_! How would a rapist lumberjack know my name? I heart pounding footsteps behind me as I continued walking at my normal pace, too cold to run away from the inevitable fate. Then I wasn't getting rained on, I looked up to see that an umbrella was over my head and that the person holding it was Jasper.

"Jesus, Jasper you scared me half to death! I thought you were a rapist lumberjack!" He didn't say anything to my odd statement, he just cocked his head one way and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Uhm, never mind." I said sheepishly.

The walk was silent, hold for the earth squishing beneath our shoes, until the house came into view, I almost ran but Jasper's voice held me up. "How," he started hesitantly then stopped.

"How what?" I asked hoping to get him to talk to me more than 'nice clothes, pretty model'.

"How would a rapist lumberjack know your name?" He asked quickly.

"That's exactly what I thought! I said, 'Alice, this is crazy, how would a lumberjack intent on raping you then chopping your head off know your name?'. I need to listen to myself more." He threw his head back in extremely audible laughter. I decided that I loved his laugh.

As we entered the huge mansion-like house Jasper shook out the umbrella and folded it up and placed it in the umbrella stand, which I nearly tripped over.

Edward was sitting on the stairs with Bella. He looked away from her up to me. "I guess it's a good thing we didn't make that bet, Alli-poo." He said in that still sickly sweet voice.

"Indeed, Sir Eddipuss!" I said in a completely honest voice, peeling off my drenched hoodie.

Edward growled and stood up, furious, he was about to march up the stairs. "Come on, Edward, don't be like that. It won't end well." I kicked off my shoes and took my pink socks off as well.

"You and your cryptic future!" he spat.

"Edward," I said, jumping up, angry now. "Do you want to know what I think?"

"No." he said simply.

"I think that you are a _time bomb_." I said. "I think that you are miserable and that you are making yourself miserable. I think that you should just swallow your pride for three seconds and ask her out! I think that you're so fixated on regrets and not wanting more that you create them every day! I think –"

"Do you _think_ it, Alice? Or do you _know_ it? Do you _know_ it or do you _see_ it." His words were hissed audibly, his voice choking back tears.

"You're killing yourself!" I shrieked. "That's what I see!" I felt tears hot on my cheeks. "And I don't need premonitions to see that!"

"Just go back to France where you belong, Alice. Go dance and become a bulimic like you know you should! You know how hard it'll be on Esme and Carlisle to have you here! That's why they agreed to send you to France in the first place!" I couldn't fire back he was making his way down the stairs his eyes burning with fury, I knew he'd just keep at me until someone stopped him. "You're a freak, Mary Alice Hale. You can see the future and you saw our parents _die_. You are a _freak_. I wish you were dead."

**A/M: Okay, I'm gonna stop here…**

**Zut (alors) – Damn, damn it, darn.**

**Let's see what you make of this chapter…please go and read my other story – What Hurts One, Hurts All.**

**Reviewers:**

**Floridian Girl – Update for you!**

**k – Thanks, jeeze, the best reviewers these days are being anonymous!**

**Nikkirenzo59 – Thanks, here's the update!**

**Love for Secrets – thanks thanks thanks! I'm not fluent in French, this is**__**pretty simple stuff based on my one year knowledge of simple French conversation. Everyone is speaking French because they're from France!**

_**Merci, merci beaucoup to everyone who put me on their alert! It's so fantastical!**_

**Here's the dealio, you review for me…I'll review for you!**


	4. Chapter 3: I'm Trying To Keep My Cool

A/M: Oh and btw the chapter titles have been from songs (hold for the prologue) the first chapter was from a song my friend wro

**Disclaimer: I own…something…undoubtedly….**

**A/M: This is InkGothical reporting from MAINE where she is on VACATION, but is UPDATING because she's AMAZING. So REVIEW later k?**

**Oh and btw the chapter titles have been from songs (hold for the prologue) the first chapter was from a song my friend wrote and I put a tune to. Chapter 2 was The Sharpest Lives by My Chemical Romance and today it's Things I'll Never Say by Avril Lavigne.**

Chapter Three

I'm Trying To Keep My Cool, I Know It Shows

_Our hearts pounded as he moved into a different territory, one we had never crossed before, our eyes met and I gave him a small nod._

But that's all I ever saw…his eyes, his hand. When I was younger I would see this and I thought it was horribly disgusting. These days, I wanted nothing more. I wanted this vision to be _so_ true.

I sighed and sat up wondering what Edward was doing right now, probably playing his keyboard, maybe even the piano. No, I'd hear the piano. Or maybe he was doing something else. I glanced at the phone stationed on my bookcase. I silently picked it up and moved the speaking part away from my face listening to their voices on the other line.

"I was like 'WE ARE NOT GAY!'" Jasper said, he laughed. "Oh, Jessica, you crack me up." He said sarcastically.

"Do you really think I should ask Bella out?" Edward asked, was he seriously being self-conscious?

"Dude, you've been like – in love with her for _years_."

"I just…I don't know, what if she doesn't like me back."

"Have you _seen_ the way she acts around you? Besides, Alice said something about asking her out earlier, right?"

"_Alice_," He spat. "Knows nothing."

"I dunno, Edward," Jasper said, he was going to lean towards me. I threw a party in my head. "If Alice _does_ see the future, maybe you _are_ making yourself miserable. I mean, you're a lot different than you were a couple years ago, Edward. You're a tad more morose." I loved the sound of Jasper's voice, it was so rough and yet so light from not using it that much.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked in a defensive manner. That's Edward, always taking offense.

"I'm just saying that a few years ago you were a little happier which is weird because it should be the other way around but, you've become a tad deadbeat." Tad. It must be one of his favorite words. Or maybe it was just a word that came up a lot when talking about Edward.

"What, you think me asking Bella out would fix my unhappiness?" Edward asked incredulously.

"No," said Jasper. "It'll take a while to make you happy again but I feel that it would do you no harm in finally asking Bella out."

"What do you mean it'll take me a while to make me happy again?"

"Think about it Edward, your sister comes home and you have a bad dream and then you're telling her she's better off dead, killed by some raping lumberjack." I giggled at this, he remembered.

"What?"

"Never mind." Jasper said dismissively. "Point is, you've got a lot of issues to work out with your sister and until you do, you won't be happy. I also think that you need to go back to Italy at some point –"

"How do _you_ know about Italy?" Edward hissed.

"I don't." Jasper said. "I just know that for some reason Italy holds a lot of heartache for you. Hey can you hold on one sec?"

"Sure."

Jasper's voice became distant but still hearable. "Phone, mom!" He groaned. "Why can't _you_ go?" He waited. "Rose hates me!"

An even softer voice could be heard shouting. "She _loves_ you!"

"Her boyfriend's scary!" a response to that comment was made. "FINE!" He shouted. I didn't know that Jasper _could_ or _would_ shout. "Edward, I have to go pick Rose up from the airport. Just think about what I said okay, and tell me you'll think about asking Bella out."

"Yah, actually, I have an idea." He sounded like he was formulating a plan in his head.

"Edward, you sound like you're concocting something. Just keep in mind, Edward, that Bella doesn't like to be the center of attention and that it might effect her decision." Jasper warned and Edward sighed.

"Alright, nothing to grand, I'll see you and Rose later."

"Bring Alice if she wants to come, I'm sure Rose would love to meet her." Edward grumbled in response.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

They hung up.

0.o.0.

Over the next hour, I tried to remember as much of the conversation as I could and decompartmentalized it all. An hour before mom was supposed to be home Edward knocked on my door. "It's open." I said. He opened the door.

His eyes were tired like he was really only realizing how much sleep he had missed last night, he dragged himself through my doorway and into the room. I was curled up with my knees tucked to my chest on my bed, he sat down on the edge of it.

"So, how tall are you these days?" He asked.

I frowned. "4'10"!" I whined, he laughed. "Not all of us can be giants like you and your friends." I complained. This was a rather annoying topic for me.

"Well, Bella's a normal height and I'm getting to six feet but Jasper's the real giant, he was six foot in 9th grade, now he's about 6'4"."

"I hate irregularly tall people." I said bitterly, he again laughed at this.

He sighed and placed a light hand on my knee. "Alice, I'm sorry for what I said."

"Never be sorry for telling the truth, Edward." I reprimanded.

Edward ducked his head. "But I didn't mean it, I'd be very sad if you had died that day or died any day since then." He sighed. "I don't know why, but it's hard for me when you're home. I guess I just feel abandoned. Regardless, the words I said were harsh and unkind and I did not mean them. Will you forgive me?" I nodded, this over-proper tone did not occur often but I knew it meant sincerity.

I rolled so I was kneeling and I put my arms around him in a hug, I didn't expect him to return the motion, but I'm surprised by something new every day. He put his arms around me too and squeezed tightly. I squeezed him back and then we untangled ourselves and I rolled back to my original position.

"Jasper's sister and her boyfriend are coming home today, Jasper invited you over if you'd like to come." Edward said, I hadn't actually thought he would invite me, but I guess since we were on better terms I would have to expect the best of him more often.

"Would you mind if I came?" I asked, not wanting him to feel awkward with his sister there.

"No, I think you'd get along with Jasper's sister quite well." Edward said, then he smiled like he was about to tease me. "You have about an hour before we leave, will that be enough time for you?"

"It'll have to be." I sighed and swung my legs around, narrowly missing his side.

50 minutes later I was wearing a heavy red and white striped, long-sleeved shirt with dark skinny jeans and high heels. I had gelled my short hair so that it stuck up in different directions but I made it look artistic and not messy.

I descended the stairs quickly and danced to where Edward was at the door, jacket on and keys spinning around his finger. He had changed into a black dress shirt that was un-tucked over the same jeans he had been wearing earlier.

"You ready?" He chuckled.

"Yes," I said. "I am."

The car ride in the shiny silver Volvo was not bad, though we listened to _okay_ music. The words came at me so fast, I didn't really have time to collect the words and process them. I was such a Froggie.

When we got to Jasper's house my eyebrows pulled together, there was a police cruiser and a old red truck in the driveway. Then I realized that we were not at Jasper's house quite yet.

Bella came out the door yelling something over her shoulder, she was about to close the door when she stopped, it was re-opened by a tall, young man with darker skin, russet colored. This young man took Bella up in a hug that she didn't fully return with the same gusto. From the corner of my eye I saw Edward's hands clench tightly around the wheel.

"Who's that?" I asked him.

"Jacob." He growled.

Jacob let go of Bella and she laughed and waved goodbye, then ran to the Volvo. She opened the back door and got in. "Hey, sorry about that, you know how Jake is." Edward nodded but said nothing.

"Who was that?" I asked casually trying to hear how Bella thought of him.

"Oh, that's my friend Jacob Black, he lives up in La Push, the Indian reserve not too far from here. His dad and mine have been friends for a while so Jake and I kinda grew up together."

"He was kinda cute, Bella." I teased, she threw her head back and laughed.

"_Everyone_ keeps telling me that!" She said. "Edward, Billy and Charlie are trying to play matchmaker, it's _hilarious_!" Edward smirked a little bit. "Coz you know he has Nessie, remember her? The half-albino girl who bruises easily?" Edward nodded. "Well they're dating now, but Billy's in denial and still trying to pair me up with him, so now all I need is a boyfriend to convince Billy and Charlie that I'm not madly in love with Jake."

I smiled at Edward and he smiled back but we didn't say anything for the rest of the short ride.

When we pulled up in front of Jasper's house and it felt oddly familiar, like I had seen if before. "Edward, is there any way I might have been here before?" I asked him.

"Nope, Jasper moved here in 8th grade, you never met him before yesterday." I nodded even though I felt like he was wrong. "Why do you ask?"

"His house seems familiar to me." I explained.

"Probably a premonition or something." He said dismissively. I nodded again.

We walked to the door and wrung the bell; Jasper opened the door looking exasperated. "Rose threatened to kill me five different ways if I didn't say hi to her boyfriend." Edward and Bella laughed and I looked at him apologetically. Jasper led us inside the hallway taking our raincoats.

"_Non_,_ non_," A struggling voice said. "_N'est pas que tu pense_!" The voice said, it was a deep voice with a completely American tongue, he pronounced _pense_ incorrectly, he rhymed it with sense.

"Pahnse, Emmett, pahnse! From _penser_, to think!" An extremely well known voice said.

"What did you say your sister's name was?" I asked turning to Jasper.

"Rosalie?" He said.

I felt a smile break out across my face, I danced from the entry hall into the room where the voices came from. "ROSALIE!" I shrieked at seeing my best friend in the whole world sitting in front of me still attempting to teach her hopeless boyfriend French.

"ALICE? ALICE!" She shrieked back, jumping to her feet at once and enveloping me in a hug. "I wasn't aware you lived in Forks! You always said Seattle, but I thought you were going to Mathilde's for break."

"I dropped out of _Danser_," I explained. "And I told you that I couldn't go to Mathilde's!" We hugged again too excited for words.

"Anyone else confused?" Emmett's deep voice asked with a customary laugh.

"From what I gather," Bella said. "Alice and Rosalie know each other from their dancing school in France." I nodded and Rosalie held me at arms length observing my outfit.

"It's simple," she said critically. "Yet cute." Then she gave an approving nod. "_Tres bien, ma cherie_." I smiled proudly. Then scrutinized her.

She was wearing a long blue shirt that hung to her perfect curves and under that were some tight, maybe too small, black leggings and some black ballet flats. "Are those your ballet flats?" I asked, she blushed and nodded meekly. I laughed.

"Rose," Jasper said, pulling her head from our conversation, Rosalie looked up from me and to her brother.

"Oh, Alice, this is my simply delightful brother, Jasper!" She danced gracefully to him and pecked his cheek lightly.

"We met, he's a friend of _my_ brother." I said pointing to Edward.

Rosalie gasped. "Edward's your _brother_?" She looked him up and down as if seeing him for the first time. "But he's so tall!" she exclaimed. Everyone burst out laughing.

"Bongour, Ahleece!" Emmett said in his horrible French and stood, I laughed and ran to him, throwing my arms around him in a hug. He lifted me off the ground and I heard myself shriek

"Damnit, Emmett!" I yelled once he put me back down, he just smiled his always-funny smile that made me laugh no matter what day of the week no matter how hard we had had to work or how little we could eat.

"Ooh, she speaks English!" He laughed and I smirked.

"Oui, I can speak a lot of languages!" I announced proudly.

Just then, Rosalie and Jasper's mother walked in. She was tall with blonde hair like them. She was in a casual looking outfit that was obviously thrown together by Rosalie. I could only think that Rosalie was planning on taking her shopping sometime over break.

She smiled at the group in front of her. "Hello Bella, Edward, how are you?"

"Good, thanks," they said simultaneously. "And yourself?"

She chuckled. "I'm well thank you."

"Oh, Mrs. Hale, this is –" Edward started to introduce me.

"This is Alice," Jasper said, jumping in. "She's Edward's sister and she used to go to school with Rose."

Mrs. Hale's eyebrows raised, "Is that right?" she asked intently, I nodded and she smiled warmly. "Small world, isn't it?"

I nodded again. "It is indeed, Mrs. Hale."

"So what do you all want for supper? Pasta? Salad? Chicken?" She offered.

"Chicken!" Rosalie exclaimed. "I'm so tired of past and salad!" I laughed with her.

"I had pizza last night!" I said and she turned to stick her tongue out at me in jealousy.

"Is chicken okay with everyone else?" Mrs. Hale asked the rest of the group, they all nodded or said 'yes'. "Great, I'll get started on that."

"Lesson adjourned." Rosalie declared to Emmett and he gave a whoop.

"Movie?" Jasper suggested in a single word.

"I Robot!" Emmett shouted.

"Juno!" Bella cheered, I glanced sideways at her. "Charlie won't let me watch it…he's worried I'll go off and have sex with Jacob."

"Music and Lyrics." Edward said, Emmett laughed.

"Dude, that's a chick flick!" He said.

Jasper laughed. "There's piano playing." It explained everything.

He turned to Rosalie, she shrugged and 'bumped' it to me. I thought for a few moments then declared, "10 Things I Hate About You." Rosalie squealed. "Heath Ledger is yummy! And I bet he's yummy-er in English!" I explained. Bella's eyes widened.

"Forget Juno! I wanna see Heath Ledger!" The boys groaned.

"Comm'on! Last time we had to watch Transformers!" Bella whined.

"Shia LaBeouf." Jasper pointed out and Bella pouted.

"Whatever." She mumbled.

Mrs. Hale decided to cut in just then, "Edward, Jasper, be nice. Alice and Rosalie are here and their votes count too. Emmett we don't own I Robot so either vote for Music and Lyrics or 10 Things I Hate About You." She disappeared again.

Emmett thought hard for the good part of a full minute until he finally gave his answer. "10 Things I Hate About You." All us girls squealed in a high-pitched tone and Rosalie kissed Emmett's cheek happily.

After dinner and an interesting conversation about dune vegetation, church camp, and a non-existent drug called Starfire we descended to the basement where a large, hi-def plasma sat. A tattered, red and white striped was against the wall across from it. There were two beanbag chairs and a loveseat all in good view of the TV. I stood in front of the TV and smiled evilly to myself.

"Seating arrangement shall go like this! Rose and Emmett on the canapé." I pointed to the couch. "Jasper et moi on the beanbags and Edward and Bella on the loveseat!" I clapped excitedly at my arrangement and went to sit in one of the bean bags.

"Excusez-moi, Madam," Jasper said, walking up to me. "But that is my beanbag." I giggled.

"What are you going to do about it?" I challenged, he smirked and contemplated. Then he sat on me.

**A/M: OMGGW! Jasper's a lapsittingwhore like my friend Benjy! Haha gotta love those lapsittingwhores…**

**I'm in Maine but I'm amazing so I'm updating…I'll be back again soon with another update!**

**Oh and: HEATH LEDGER IS AMAZING!! (R.I.P.)**

**Reviewers:**

**You'reTheMoon: I know he was a jerk but he's not a jerk all the time to her…he was just having a bad morning.**

**Nikkirenzo59: I don't think that a raping lumberjack would have done her much better. I'll be honest.**

**k: Thanks!**

**Floridian Girl: Zut alors means God damnit, I have a few French friends and they said that my French wasn't perfect but that Zut was correct.**

**bingo1000: Thanks for your review! It meant a lot! I'm glad you're actually commenting on more than one part of the story!**

**hpfan2009: Hey, thanks for dropping a review!**


	5. Chapter 4: There Are Too Many Questions

Chapter Four

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't care. Just read please.**

**A/M: Okay, by the way…everything that is said and happens in this story is rated Teen. I'd know…I'm 14! So people do actually say "You have a bony ass!" (haha…oh that lapsittingwhore…) anyway, school started on last Wednesday (9/3) and I had a party on last Friday (9/5) and I went to my friend's 15****th**** birthday party yesterday (9/13). And I may be helping out with the Drama at the middle school so don't expect to many rapid updates, but I'll try to write when my homework's done before I need to go to bed… **

Chapter Four

There Are Too Many Unanswered Questions

I sat there, stunned momentarily. "Jasper," I started slowly. "What are you doing?"

"Sitting." He said simply, he adjusted himself so that his tall figure was blocking my view entirely and so that his apparently bony butt dug painfully into my thighs.

"FINE!" I said, and he stood up chuckling, he offered me a hand and I grudgingly took it. Chantal had had beanbags for about one month and it had taken me 20 minutes to get out of one the first time I tried it. "You have a very bony ass." I told him and he smiled, plopping himself into the beanbag chair.

"The boniest." He said cheekily. I started for the other beanbag on the other side of the couch but a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me to their owner.

Suddenly, Jasper and I were in reverse places from just a moment ago. He smiled and I gaped at him. "Eating flies?" He asked and I closed my mouth with a pout and struggled against his grip to get up. "Stay." He ordered, I almost let go but I continued to struggle against his firm arms. "Please?" He said. My eyes narrowed at him but I complied, letting my body stop beating against his arms.

I moved myself so that I was resting comfortably on his lap. He shifted slightly but that was the end of it. I looked up from situating myself to see Rosalie, Edward, Emmett and Bella all staring at us with shock written on their faces along with an incredulous gaze at our seating arrangements.

Jasper coughed next to me and Rosalie jumped, quickly saying, "Let's play a game!" She exclaimed. "Ooh! Let's play, La vérité ou Ose, or as you English speakers call it – Truth or Dare!" I felt my face light up.

"French rules apply?" I asked her and she nodded. The others looked confused so I took the liberty of explaining it. "Rose and I made up a different set of rules for France when we taught our friends," I giggled evilly, sending an ominous air into the room.

"The dares are extreme and for each truth you refuse to say you must take off one article of your attire. A bracelet, a piece of your clothing…" Rosalie smiled knowingly and held out a jangling arm filled with thin red bangles. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bella blush and look down at her simple long sleeved shirt and jeans, Edward elbowed her playfully and whispered something in her ear that made her go even more red.

"Okay, I'll start!" Rosalie exclaimed and I knew she'd use me as an example so I prepared myself. "Bella, truth or dare?" Bella's eyes widened, she had obviously been expecting me to be an example too.

"Uhm, dare?" She said wincing slightly, Rosalie grinned with an evil glint in her eye and Bella looked like she immediately wanted to take it back.

Without thinking, Rosalie said, "I dare you to kiss Edward."

To my surprise, Bella rolled her eyes. "Jeeze, you'd think people would know that this is a pointless dare by now." She leaned over and kissed him full on the mouth then settled back into her former position. I gaped to Jasper and he shrugged.

"Okay, Jaspy!" Bella exclaimed with a little bounce to her. "Truth or dare?"

He held up some form of hand sign and most of the room understood, I looked to Edward for a translation. "Truth." He said.

"If you could pick a song to describe Alice, what would it be and why?" He glared at Bella and gave a tug to the white rope bracelet around his wrist so that it fell off and was put to the side.

The game continued on, I was made to do a few things to Jasper, tell a story about Edward and when that came around I had a field day. It was Jasper who dared me to tell a story about Edward that we had undoubtedly never heard.

"Well, there was time in our lives when we lived in Volterra, Italy and Edward wasn't very good at Italian at that point. Got it so far?" everyone nodded Edward was grimacing, knowing the story I was about to unfold. "Well my mom leaves me and Edward outside while she goes into a shop for literally a minute. But in that minute a woman decides she's going to make Edward her new son and tries to take him." Everyone was giving me an odd look by that time.

"So he tries to yell 'stop, stop' but in Italian the only word he knew that resembled stop was _basta_ which means enough so he had on his mind '_basta_, _basta_' but he said it wrong and was saying '_Bella_, _bella_'." Everyone cracked up at this but I wasn't done. I tried to catch my breath from laughing to continue.

"So our mom comes out and Edward's screaming '_Bella, bella_' at this woman who was trying to kidnap him and she wrenches Edward out of the woman's arms and is yelling at him saying 'Don't be rude to women, Edward!' and she's freaking out and I'm the only one telling the truth while the woman's apologizing for the confusion, and she didn't even understand what was going on!" Everyone except Edward was in tears laughing by now. I had been planning on reserving this for Edward's fiancé but I got the feeling I had blown that because without even looking into the future I was 95 percent sure that Edward and Bella would be getting married.

While they were recovering and making fun of Edward I decided to take a peek.

"_No!" I insist batting Edward's hand away from the handle. _

_He rolls his eyes at me and says, "Oh come on Alice, you don't _actually _think Bella cares do you?"_

_His hand goes for the handle but I slap it away again. "Just because she _says_ she doesn't care doesn't mean that she actually doesn't care!" I say strictly._

"_You don't know Bella like I do!" Edward complains. "She doesn't want this!"_

"_Nonsense," I insist. "Every girl wants this." I open the door a sliver of the way and barely slip in and I look around, I'm pleased to see Bella in the most gorgeous –_

"Alice!" Jasper said shaking me out of my thoughts, literally. "Are you okay?" He asked concernedly, not worrying about his mute persona.

I shook my head harshly to clear it and then looked at him. "I'm fine. Just zoned out a bit."

"Well, dinner's ready." He told me and I realized that I had to get up. I focused on the normally instinct task. "Were you having a uhm…a uhm…"

"A vision?" I finished for him, he nodded, also standing, I wavered slightly. "Yes." I tried to take a step but I uncharacteristically lost my footing and began to tumble forward. I knew I'd end up on the floor with Jasper trying to hold back a chuckle and thinking some crack about me being the clumsiest dancer he'd ever seen.

That, however, did not happen, instead I was stopped as his arm wrapped around my waist and righted me. His arm didn't move even after I had gotten balanced but instead we stared at each other with an unknown emotion passing through both of us. I had not idea what it was I had never really experienced it before if there was an experience to be had at all.

I chuckled awkwardly, "Hah, I must be the clumsiest dancer you've ever seen." Damn it, that was exactly the topic I didn't want brought up.

But to my surprise, he shook his head with a smile, "Bella took ballet." I gave a sound of understanding for that's all it took. I didn't have to know that Bella was outrageously clumsy. I didn't have to know that she couldn't dance, I was just able to understand everything in three words or less.

"So erm, dinner…." I trailed off and Jasper jumped away from me as if I had burned him with the innocent word.

"Yes," He said clearing his throat. "Food. Dinner. Chicken. Which we're eating. Yes." After stuttering for a few seconds he bolted from the room and the sound of his pounding footsteps was easily heard.

I groaned, knowing I had done _something_ wrong and followed him out of the room and back up the stairs, but with much lighter footsteps of course.

When we got upstairs, Rosalie was on the phone talking very fast in French, I switched my brain to better understand what she was saying and who she was talking to. I listened intently, she said my name and looked up at me with a slight grimace on her face, she listened on the phone but mouthed to me 'Conner'. I gasped, and then groaned and switched back into my English speaking head and I groaned again.

I looked around, Edward and Jasper were huddled in the corner and Emmett was there too, but I didn't think he was contributing. Bella was sitting on the counter just a ways down from Rosalie talking to Mrs. Hale.

I felt alone.

Obviously, I was but knowing that Rosalie was still talking to him, no matter how grudgingly, confused me and hurt me. The fact that I had screwed up with Jasper and now had no idea what he thought of me was also still fresh in the back of my mind, as was the fight I had had with Edward earlier in the day.

The door opened and everyone turned to see who had entered the house. A man took off his raincoat and hung it up and stepped out of a pair of rain boots. On the phone Rosalie said a rushed goodbye and hung up, promptly shrieking at the top of her lungs: "DADDY!" She sprinted (and I watched Emmett pick up his head and ogle her unashamedly) to her father and wrapped her arms around the mans neck.

The man laughed loudly and cried, "Rosie-baby!" and hugged her back, he entered the living room/kitchen area and looked around at us all. Jasper, Edward and Emmett had stopped talking and were looking at Rosalie and Jasper. "Jasper," the man greeted.

"Paul." Jasper said monotonously. Paul nodded with a hint of dissapointment on his face, but it disappeared when he turned to his wife. He pulled out of his daughter's embrace and went to Mrs. Hale, wrapping his arms around her in a warm greeting.

"Amanda, how was your day?" He asked her politely.

"Wonderful, Rosalie brought Emmett home and Edward brought his sister, Alice, who incidentally happens to be _the_ Alice that Rosalie raves about." He looked around and spotted the one female he didn't know and smiled warmly. "Is that right? Small world isn't it?" I just nodded with a smile.

Normally, I would be talking a mile a minute about how wonderful the Rosalie is and how beautiful the house is and wonderful flattery such as that. However, this time was different.

I was more than confused.

Why would Jasper be so cold to his own father? A sudden realization hit me. He had been doing homework last night and had written his name asJasper _Whitlock_. Not Hale. Why did his mother, sister and father go by Hale and not he himself.

"Oh Jasper?" His mother asked his head shot up. "Have you decided where you're going to be for Christmas?" He shook his head no. "Okay, well can you choose by tomorrow morning?"

"Oh Jasper!" Rosalie exclaimed. "You should stay here! We're going to have a party on New Years!"

Jasper frowned and made a sound that sound like discontent.

"Jasper," Bella called from her perch on the counter. "Please stay! You're going with your father to Hawaii for Spring Break remember? Besides, you _always_ go to your father's for Christmas!"

"To avoid parties." He said in his signature three words.

"Well you don't _have_ to go to the party." A voice mumbled, it took me a moment before I realized it was I who had spoken.

"You _want_ me here?" He asked in a relatively longer sentence than normal.

My eyes widened as I realized what I had implied, everyone was staring at me expectantly, some with hope that I could convince him to stay, I didn't know how I could possibly do that seeing as I had known him less than 48 hours. "Well," I said. "The choice is yours, I'm just saying it seems silly to miss out on Christmas with your friends because of a New Year's party."

He turned his gaze to his mother and said, "I'll think." Amanda Hale beamed and flashed me a greatfull smile.

I just couldn't help but wonder about where he would have gone if not staying here, had Rosalie and Bella mentioned…his father?

**A/M: TADA! It's really, really late I know and I'm sorry! Please forgive me and do not sacrafice me to the bizarre powers that be! I've been deciding whether or not this should take place over the winter break or over a longer span of time (which would include school). Please tell me your thoughts about it in a review!**

**Next Chapter: Alice and Jasper talk and Jasper decides and uhm maybe more... (Released Friday)**


	6. Chapter 5: Gift of One Liners

**Disclaimer: I don't own it…and I don't REALLY care.**

**A/M: Today's song is from Curse of Curves by Cute Is What We Aim For. I'm so proud about getting this chapter out on time. I'm rather proud of this chapter overall, and I hope you all like it! Holy fuckers…I had no idea I hadn't updated this chapter until I tried to upload the 6****th**** one! HAHA you get two updates!**

Chapter Five

I've Got the Gift of One-Liners and You've Got the Curse of Curves

Dinner had gone by rather awkwardly; I had stopped counting gay babies at about 15. Oh those poor babies had never seen it coming. After dinner everyone agreed that we had no interest in watching 10 Things I Hate About You anymore. Paul stood up, announcing that he had a lot of work he needed to get done before he could start an official vacation and disappeared into a room I could only assume was his study.

Rose and Emmett stayed at the table talking to each other silently, they're heads bent together. It hadn't slipped my mind or notice that throughout dinner they had been playing on each other's nerves. Holding hands, brushing thighs, tempting each other wildly in ways only Rose and Emmett could.

Bella and Edward were talking about plans for the break, what days were what for each other.

Jasper was clearing the table silently as always, he seemed to be humming a catchy tune quietly. I stood and began to help him, maneuvering around Rose and Emmett to get their plates, catching a little bit of their conversation, "I don't know what I want to do, I want to stay in the states, with you, Alice and Jasper. He needs me, you can see that, can't you?" Rosalie whispered.

Oh yes, Emmett's scholarship to the academy of architecture had expired when the semester ended. He was now stuck back in a normal high school in Seattle with his family.

I brought their dishes to the counter where Jasper was starting to rinse them and place them in the dishwasher. I stood post by the other side of the dishwasher. As he went to place the next plate in I held out my hand and he looked at me for a trace of a joke. Then he placed the plate lightly in my hands and I then put it in the correct spot in the dishwasher. His knitted eyebrows unwound themselves and he shook his head to clear it and continued to rinse dishware and hand it to me.

When we were done, Jasper helped me set up the dishwasher and start it then he turned on his heel and started out of the downstairs room towards the stairs. Then he turned around and beckoned me with the slight bend of one finger. I looked around at Emmett and Rose, they're heads were still together. Bella and Edward were starting up a game on the console, I assumed that Emmett would play with them eventually and Rose would cheer him on.

I shrugged and caught up with Jasper, as he was now halfway up the stairs. I guess he had just assumed that I would follow him or I wouldn't.

At the top of the stairs he turned left into a room that was a medium blue, a warm color that reflected the normal color of the sky out of the two windows beautifully.

"I love the color." I stated, touching the wall lightly with the tips of my fingers.

Jasper, 'mmm'd' and sat on his green bed, another warm version of the color, not like the green that covered the rest of the little town or the trees around my house but a darker, warmer, nicer green. The room had odd mixes of color that I would never had thought would work but they all fit in nicely giving the room a wonderfully homey feeling.

I sat down in the tall black chair and let my feet dangle childishly as short legs often do. I didn't even realize that I was doing half spins, looking around his room. At one point I turned to face the wall his desk was against and found a corkboard littered with pictures.

Most of the pictures were of the trio of Bella, Edward and Jasper. Occasionally just Jasper or just Edward or just Bella. A few of different pairs of them. Edward and Jasper, Bella and Edward (there were 7 of these), and Jasper and Bella.

Then there were a few of his family. There was one picture of Paul, Amanda, Rosalie and Jasper standing outside the house. They were posed like the perfect family, and they looked like it. Amanda, Rosalie and Jasper all had blonde hair and Paul had a darker shade of hair but it didn't make a difference, they looked like the picture that comes with the frame before you put your own in it.

I suddenly recognized the picture and realized how I would know the outside of the house.

"Rosalie has that picture in a frame at school." I said, reaching my arm up to point to it.

Jasper made a noise of acknowledgment and I continued looking. There was a picture of a man I didn't know and Jasper. Next to it was a serious picture of Jasper. It was a little shaky but stylistically it was beautiful.

It had been taken from the profile. Jasper was sitting on a jetty, looking out at the water. His sweater and hair were whipped out behind him. He had his arms wrapped around his legs, which were pulled tight to his chest. He seemed to be deep in thought.

I hadn't realized I had stood or that my fingertips were grazing the edge of the photo lightly until Jasper's hand intercepted mine.

"I like that." He growled, and I realized suddenly that I wasn't supposed to touch it.

I could see in the new light that some of the pictures had fingerprints all over them to show they had been taken down and put back up and handled quite a lot. The picture of Jasper however, didn't have a fingerprint on it. I quickly removed my fingers from the fringe and mumbled an apology.

"Sorry." He said. "I just like it." He smiled at it. He seemed to be forgetting that he had my hand in his. I didn't mind. His hands were warm.

Only now, standing in such a close proximity to him did I realize how tall he was, he could have easily be a foot and a half taller than me. I looked up at him, trying to understand the emotion on his face.

The interesting thing about people is that normally, their faces can portray many different emotions at once and they can flicker quickly and confusingly. However, Jasper's face was a set emotion. I just didn't have a word for it. Not in any of the four languages I spoke had a word for it.

_Love_. Was the closest I could think of, I never prided myself in my word choices but this seemed to fit his face well enough.

He looked down at me and I realized I had been staring at him while trying to place his emotions and now he looked like he was concentrating very hard on something,

I didn't even notice that his face had been coming towards me, swooping down upon me to kiss me until he had jumped away from me when the door banged open.

"Jasper did you put the dishes – oh, I'm sorry…I should have knocked, I guess…" Amanda Hale apologized. Jasper crossed to his bed before looking up at his mother.

"Everything's in the dishwasher." He stated simply and Amanda nodded, and left the threshold, closing the door as she went.

Suddenly remembering something, I crossed to the bed too. I made sure to sit far enough away from him on his bed but still be in a comfortable place. "I just remembered something." I said. His eyebrows characteristically rose. "You never answered your first truth." Now his eyebrows knitted together once again. "If you could use one song to describe me, what would it be and why?" His eyes widened and he lowered and shook his head tiredly.

Just when I thought he was going to ignore the question or get angry he stood up and picked his iPod out of his pocket and walked to his desk where an iHome was perched. He stuck the iPod into the player and scrolled around until he found the perfect song. He clicked play and I suddenly recognized the tune as the one he had been humming earlier.

I tried to concentrate to the lyrics.

_"I've got the gift of one-liners, and you've got the curse of curves…"_

I looked up at Jasper in shock and he pointedly wouldn't meet my eyes. He dug his hands into his pockets ashamedly looking around but never at me.

The song continued on and I decided I liked the song. When the song ended another one began but I tuned it out as Jasper pressed pause almost instantly.

"You think I'm curvy?" I snorted out in a laugh. At my laugh Jasper's head snapped up as if he was angry.

"You are." He insisted. "You've got the tiniest waist I've ever seen." That had to be the longest sentence he had said to me today and I of course blushed and instinctively wrapped my arms around myself and he looked away as if he was witnessing something indecent.

There was a knock on the door before Edward entered. He observed the room with a confused sort of look. "You read to go?" He asked me.

_No!_ I wanted to cry. I never wanted to leave. I suddenly had a bizarre desire to waltz up to Jasper and put his big hands on my tiny waist and rest my head against the chest I could barely reach. I wanted him to want me, to wish for me at night, to need me.

I wanted to at least kiss him goodbye.

"Yup." I said ignoring my innermost desires and bouncing towards Edward. "Bye Jasper! I'll see you soon and if not soon, I'll see you at school!" I said quickly before he raised a hand as a monotonous wave and I bounded down the stairs. I head Edward say goodnight before he two started heading down the stairs. I looked into the living room where Rosalie and Emmett were playing video games.

"Night you two!" I called to them, Rosalie blew me a kiss and Emmett waved slightly before the game pulled them both back. Amanda was watching the screen intently, probably trying to figure out the game like Esme had last night. "Goodnight, Mrs. Hale. It was wonderful to meet you! Thanks for your hospitality!" She turned and smiled at me.

"Of course dear!" She said happily. "Any sibling of Edwards or friend of Rosalie and Jasper is allowed here anytime." I nodded in a thanks and went to put my rain jacket and boots on.

As I was slipping my second boot on, Jasper came down the stairs with wet hair, plaid pajama pants and a tan shirt he ignored Bella, Edward and I as he ran into the main room. I heard his voice as he turned on Rosalie. "Where's my soap."

"Uhm…I don't know?" Rosalie's voice said in a mocking sort of way.

"Rose, I had a full bar of soap earlier!" he insisted. "Now, no soap."

"I don't know what happened to it." Rosalie insisted. That was the last thing I heard before we left the house into the rain and headed for Edward's Volvo.

**A/M: Okay, this has been written for two weeks but I've felt unloved so I didn't post it. **

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	7. Chapter 6: April Showers

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything…xD!**

**A/M: Hey there folks…I know I've been updating shit-like, but I hope this makes it up to you…seven pages of Jasper/Alice and Edward/Bella! Today's song is Schroeder from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown!**

Chapter Six

At Parties He'd Play Something Nice Like April Showers

The next two days were spent setting up the rest of the house for Christmas. I found it such an amazing way to reconnect with my family. Esme and I literally decked the hall while listening to Christmas carols sung from her iPod. I'd sing in French and she in English, oh we had a fantastic time! However, in those two days I didn't get a chance to see any of my newly acquired friends. I didn't make a fuss though. I was having so much fun with my mom that I didn't really notice until Monday afternoon when Edward set off for the airport.

That's when the phone rang.

Of course, the phone had been ringing all weekend, what with everyone from Alaska coming down but this time was different.

My mom let me answer it thinking it'd be Dad trying to remember if it was he or Edward that was picking up the family at the airport or Edward making me check what time the plan landed and if I was _sure_ that it was their flight.

I was not expecting the voice I heard on the other end.

"Hello, Cullen residence!" I said in a bubbly tone that I always answered the phone with.

"Who's speaking?" The confused voice of Jasper Hale asked.

Oh. My. God. I wanted to faint right then and there, he'd _have_ to say something more than three words long now, he'd have to ask for Edward, he'd have to say something. He'd have to intoxicate me with his voice as I told him that Edward was unavailable.

"It's Alice." I said with an unphased voice even though internally I was _so_ phased.

"Oh, hey Alice, it's Jasper. Is Edward there?" I could just imagine him shifting uncomfortably, having to say so much to me, a person he barely knew.

"Nope, sorry Jasper, you missed him. He's off to the airport to pick up our relatives." Too much information, Alice. He didn't need to know that, he would have asked. You would have heard his voice again.

"Oh, okay. Well could you tell him I called?" He asked, I sighed inwardly but I would and I was about to tell him that when he said, "Wait, Alice!" I put the phone to my head in alarm and at the same time hitting myself in the jaw with the receiver.

"Yes? Ow!" Great, Alice. You're just brilliant aren't you?

Jasper chuckled. "If I didn't know better I'd think I was talking to Bella." I could practically hear him smirking on the other line. "Could you tell your mo – Esme that Bella's mom's husband had to away for a game and that Renee will be joining him so Bella is staying here. Which in short translates to Bella and I accepting her invitations to both the Christmas Party _and_ the New Years Party and also if she wouldn't mind can we bring Rose?" I laughed breathily at his long-winded, rambling response. My smile never left my face.

"So basically what I'm telling my mom is that you, Bell and Rose can make it to both parties?" I said.

"Yup, that's basically it." Jasper confirmed.

"Great, I'll tell her that and we'll se you tonight!" I said, and then added. "And I'll tell Edward you called."

"Great, thanks, Alice." Ah, he said my name! Wait, Alice, wait for him to hang up before you squeal.

"Anytime, Jasper!" And with that the phone disconnected and I let out an ear piercing shriek!

Later, when most of the decorations were done – all except hanging stockings but we waited for the rest of the family before doing that, generally – a silver Volvo pulled up into the driveway in front of the house. The rain was still letting up for the time being but I knew we didn't have a great chance of it staying that way for much longer.

Esme and I pulled on our boots and ran outside to greet our Alaskan relatives.

First out of the car were Edward, Uncle Eleazar and a man with dark skin I didn't know. The men went around to the back of the Volvo's popped trunk to pull the bags from the back. The first girl out of the car, from the front seat, was Tanya. Tanya had long, flowing strawberry-blonde hair. I loved Tanya to death, but she tends to be…a…_prostituée_. She was followed by Kate, who had darker hair and cut short around her heart shaped face and who _I_, _personally_ tended to like more. Then, out of the car came my Aunt Carmen, she was tall and had dark hair like Irina's but hers was long like Tanya's.

Esme ran to her sister, her sister being Carmen, and they embraced each other tightly while squealing like teenagers. I continued to lean against a post on the porch as Tanya approached with Kate close behind. However, Irina stayed back by her father, Edward and the dark skinned man.

Tanya ascended the porch steps and I took in her outfit. Completely gag-me-Abercrombie junk, and to add to her already modelesque height of 5'7" she was wearing stilettos that added at _least_ 3 inches, if not more. She looked down at me and assessed me.

"How tall are you now, Alice?" She asked. Oh, yah, she's also kinda a _chienne_. I love how those were the first words out of her mouth to me.

My incessant dislike for her however, did not shine through. Instead, I smiled and replied sweetly, "4'10" and not growing." She cracked a smile at this and spun on her dangerously thin heel and entered the house. Kate followed, but not before smiling and waving at me, I waved back and her eyes seemed to lighten. I guess she was glad that I didn't blame her for her sister's rudeness.

Irina now bounded up the stairs with a bag in hand and the dark skinned man behind her, he was carrying two bags.

Irina flashed an award-winning smile at me and then at Esme as she and Aunt Carmen came to stand next to me. "Okay," she breathed. "Alice, Esme, this is Laurent, he's my boyfriend!" Laurent moved one of his hands in an automatic pleasantry but was obviously held down by the bag in his hand, he looked flustered and turned to Irina for help. "I'll do a proper introduction inside when Carlisle gets here." She decided and with that, Laurent stopped fidgeting and was led into the house by Esme and Irina.

I heard Esme ask Irina a question I knew she had already asked Carmen, "And will you and Laurent be sharing a bedroom?" I wanted to hear Irina's answer, but then Edward and Uncle Eleazar brought up the rear with bags in their hands and they bounded into the house to escape from the rain that had suddenly started up again.

I started inside, but Aunt Carmen caught my arm. "Alice, we were surprised when you came straight to Forks instead of meeting us in Alaska first. Though, Irina was overjoyed when I told her she could invite Laurent…" She sighed and returned to her original subject. "Are you okay, Alice, dear?"

I smiled and nodded appreciatively, "Actually, Aunt Carmen," I said. "Things are looking up for me!" She tilted her head to the side, her eyes wide but acceptingly so. "I just began to think that the dance academy wasn't the school for me, plus you can't go through life properly without at least _one_ year in a public high school!" Carmen threw back her head in laughter and led me inside the warm and festive house.

As I sat getting made up by Kate and Irina – Tanya was sitting on my bed flipping through one of my French magazines – the two preferable cousins bombarded me with questions. "So how's _Conner_?" Kate asked as she placed foundation over my face.

"I don't know…he wasn't too good last time I talked to him…but we broke up a few months ago." The girls gasped as if this news was the biggest scandal they had ever heard. "Ohmigod!" I exclaimed suddenly, jumping up and getting foundation on my shirt. "I totally forgot! You guys get to meet Rosalie!" I heard Tanya's magazine shut and I glanced over to see her jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered opening the magazine again.

"What? How?" Irina and Kate asked me simultaneously.

I giggled slightly and sat back down to finish being made up, but continued to talk. "Well, Rosalie is the sister of one of Edward's very good friends, Jasper." The girls stared at me.

Tanya suddenly appeared behind me and her fingers lightly played with my hair, "Small, small world, isn't it?" she cooed, sickly sweet, to me.

"And getting smaller," Edward announced from the doorway. "Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and Bella will be here in like, fifteen minutes…do you mind helping me choose what to wear?" I beamed.

Kate made a mocking sound, "Oo-oh, are you trying to _impress_ someone, Eddie-poo?" Edward scowled.

"I swear," He said menacingly. "If you two call me Eddie-poo or any form of childish nickname in front of Bella I'll kill you." But he said it with a smile.

"Kate and Irina are doing my makeup, but you can come and talk with us if you'd like…"

He moved towards my bed and assumed the seat Tanya had vacated in her attempt to phase me. "Sure, thanks."

In all honesty, I had been kidding but…whatever works, works!

He spied my French magazine and picked it up, skimming the pages lightly. "Are French scandals like American scandals?"

"Well, there's no Brittney Spears of the French-Entertainment world, if _that's_ what you were wondering." I joked lightly. He laughed back and proceeded to read an article in the magazine.

There was another knock on the doorframe, we all looked up to see Laurent surveying the room, "Uh, hello there, ladies," he said nervously. I realized then, that he had an accent. A French one, as a matter of fact. "Do you mind if I come in? I've asked Esme what I can do so much that I believe she's becoming irritated."

I beckoned him inside and he took a step and stood awkwardly just inside the door. "Laurent," I said he lifted his head towards me. "What part of France are you from, or was it Quebec?" He smiled broadly and said, "Actually, now that you mention it, Senegal, but I decided to go to do a foreign exchange program in Denali where I met Irina." He said her name with a change of tone; it had more love in it than the rest of the sentence had.

I nodded in understanding. "Wow, Senegal's pretty far…" I said stupidly. "I went to a dance academy in France so I'm fluent."

"_Bien, nous pouvons parler en secret_!" He joked.

"_Oui_," I agreed. "_Combien vous aimez ma cousine? J'aime_ Irina_ très, très beacoup_!"

"_Moi aussi, mais pas de même façon_." (1)

I smiled at this. So he _did_ love her.

A half an hour later we were waiting for Carlisle to come home with a few of his colleagues who would be spending Christmas Eve evening with us. We were also waiting for Bella, Jasper, Rose and Emmett.

Edward and I had somehow ended up in the parlor by the white grand piano, I pulled an easier piano book from the bench and propped it up against the holder. The sweet notes of the one song that I could play well were produced from the piano.

I heard the door open in the front hall but I was too immersed to get up and stop now, as my simplified version of _Whispering_ danced messily along the keys. A few people entered the room behind us (Edward was turning the pages for me) but I tried to ignore them or all would be lost. (2)

As the last chord was held and then disappeared the room came back to life in my mind and I turned to see who had entered.

Basically everyone. Great.

"Oh!" Bella exclaimed, she had arrived while I was playing? She was wearing a very confusing dress that was probably driving my brother insane. It had no sleeves but had a high chest, the bottom was high but she wore leggings on her long legs. Yes, Edward was probably going crazy. "So it's _you_ who plays the piano? I've always wondered who the grand piano was for!"

I couldn't help it. I laughed out loud so damn hard.

When I could almost breath again I formed words, "You think, that _this_ is for _me_?" Bella nodded not understanding the joke. "I barely live here!" Then I turned to Edward with a shocking realization. "You have not told them of your prodigal talents?" He shot me a look that had a mix of sheepishness and threat to it.

"Wait, Edward," Tanya said, moseying to us. "You haven't played for your friends?"

Edward sent an apologetic look to his friends who were by the doorway, Esme came in at that moment and in attempt to salvage the night without angering Edward she said, "Well, since the cat's out of the bag, would you like to play for everyone, Edward?" He sent her a stern look. "How about something you wrote…" He groaned and Bella's eyes lit up. "How about my song?" (3)

Edward closed his eyes and breathed heavily before lightly pushing me out of the way. He placed his long, elegant fingers on the keys before setting off into the song. He closed his eyes and let his fingers speak for him. I had never heard this one before so I stood at the edge of the piano.

About a minute into the song Esme came up behind him with tears in her eyes and Bella followed her watching Edward in awe. She sat on the bench next to him, but he was unphased. His back was completely straight and his chin was tilted slightly upwards and his exquisite hands danced up and down the magnificent keys. His eyelids remained unmoving until the last note had vanished from the air.

Edward's chin lowered slightly and his eyelids fluttered open, he turned to Esme who had tears rolling down her cheeks. Then his eyes flickered to Bella sitting very close to him, he turned his head to her in question and she opened her mouth to speak but hesitated as if she was afraid to break the beautiful silence.

Then, he kissed her.

His mouth landed on hers and the room brook into peels of excitement and laughter. Jasper yelled, yes…he yelled, "About time!" Earning himself an "I know, right?" look from Carlisle who was now standing in the doorway with a few friends from the hospital. Oh, Edward would kill himself later and Bella would feel as if she could never face us again.

Oh well. They'd both get over it.

**A/M: **

**(1) – Laurent: Good, we can talk in secret.**

**Alice: Yes, how much do you like my cousin? I love her very, very much.**

**Laurent: Me too, but not in the same way.**

**(2) – Whispering is the only song I can play on the piano without looking like a dumbass…haha, it's a song from Spring Awakening.**

**(3) – PERSONALLY, I see Esme's Song as The River Flows In You by Yurima. Some people tell me I'm crazy and that it should be Bella's song, but they…are wrong.**

**Hey, okay so, sorry again for not updating but shit happens. AKA: High school, King and I tech week and shows, more school, Revenge of the Space Pandas rehearsal (Yah, it's a legit show), my own personal writing which I have not done in a while and that makes me sad, lack of a muse…**

**Don't expect many rapid updates…it'll take me a while to punch out these updates because I'm going into Hell Week for a show that's going to fall on its face because two main characters don't know their lines… and it's Mamet so it's like a bajillion times harder and I'm going to be Assistant Stage Manager for A Chorus Line at school AND I'm helping out with the musical at the middle school, Once Upon A Mattress…and I have homework and school and my own writing.**

**So. Yah. I'll update when I can.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**There's a little button that gives you an option to review…I say, go fo eet!**


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